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Pound The Alarm
A mission to rescue missing township runners brings fresh revelations about the zombie plague. Cast * Sam Yao * Nadia * Paula Cohen * Maxine Myers * The Builder * Veronica McShell Plot Get Out There Some of Abel's runners are in trouble. As the most experienced runner you're sent on a rescue mission. Gaining On Them Sam and Nadia discuss the implications of Zombie Anomaly Sightings, and how information from the Edda might help to create a cure. Get Out Of There Now! Sam's worried about Paula, but Nadia, more focussed on finding Veronica, misses a large pack of Zoms attracted by a pile of corpses. Paula offers to lead the pack away. The Forbidden City Sam notices all the bodies were teenage girls and thinks a serial killer might be taking advantage of the apocalypse. Sam still has Veronica's tracker signal, and it's headed towards the Forbidden City: Battenbury. Low Chance Of Survival Janine reveals a form of napalm was used to try to contain an early outbreak in Battenbury. The earth and air are now toxic, and Veronica will be fatally poisoned if she's there too long. No Good Denying The Truth Janine suggests you find a demolitions expert, but only because you're desperate. She suspects the serial killer is her brother Tom, and feels responsible for his crimes. Picked Up Some Zoms Sam fusses over Maxine due to her pregnancy. That's when the demolitions expert, 'The Builder', along with a pack of zoms, finds you. Taken By A Zombie Sam's not happy about your new supposed ally pulling a gun on you. The Builder gets an update on the situation from Amelia in a waiting helicopter - there's only one other warm body in the area. Veronica's been taken by a zombie. Transcript JANINE DE LUCA: Runner One, come in. I repeat, come in. VERONICA MCSHELL: Yang! Yang! Run, run, it’s coming! growls NADIA AL HANAKI: People, are you reading this? JANINE DE LUCA: I don’t care, get him up! They work together. splatters VERONICA MCSHELL: I think he’s dead! I think it killed Yang! NADIA AL HANAKI: Where’s Paula, Veronica! VERONICA MCSHELL: She just collapsed, like she does. COHEN coughs NADIA AL HANAKI: Oh God! SAM YAO: What is it? What? Uh, no, no, I’m awake. NADIA AL HANAKI: No, I don’t know where they are. Something’s interfering with the tracker. If I knew what, I’d just say, wouldn’t I? VERONICA MCSHELL: It’s coming for me, it’s going to get me! It’s not a zom, it’s not moving like one. JANINE DE LUCA: No, Runner Thirty-one doesn’t have the field experience. I want Runner Five to deal with this personally. No one else. MCSHELL screams NADIA AL HANAKI: It’s… it’s got her. SAM YAO: Five! Yang Pulse, Runner One, is dead. Runner Twenty-three has collapsed. Veronica McShell’s been kidnapped. We don’t know by who or by what. We need you, Five. Get out there. Run! rustles SAM YAO: Alright, alright. Five, you’re clear. A couple of shamblers behind you, but you’re good for the next mile or so. Um, I’m just catching up on the mission briefing notes, here. Uh, Nadia, what is ZAS 133? NADIA AL HANAKI: Zombie Anomaly Sighting, and the number. We’ve been following up all possible anomalies. It’s Veronica’s plan. The notes Moonchild led us to at the Natural History Museum suggested that some Vikings might have cured people of the zombie plague back then. SAM YAO: Oh man, Vikings! Yeah, yeah, sorry. It’s been a bit – uh, well, you know, with the whole pregnancy thing. But yeah, no, I know about this. The Edda of the Wakened Warriors, that ancient saga of Vikings in Britain we all did in school with uh, Fimm, and King Thorsten, and the uh, wizard Loki, and all that stuff, turns out to be potentially actually about zombies! And true! It’s insane. NADIA AL HANAKI: Right. It’s not very useful. The Edda’s confused. Huge chunks of it are missing, so it’s just fragments of sentences. And I mean, it’s Moonchild, so it could just be crazy. But she also understood a lot about the science of the virus, and the vague suggestions she interpreted from the Edda gave Veronica interesting research ideas. We know that the zombie plague destroys all higher brain functions within twenty-four hours. So we’ve been following up any weirdly-behaving zombies, because if they’re doing human type things - SAM YAO: - their brains aren’t totally destroyed. Right, right, yeah, Janine did say something about that in the morning meeting. NADIA AL HANAKI: And that’s the first step to - SAM YAO: - the cure for anyone infected. Yeah, I get why it’s important. And New Canton assigned you permanently to work with Veronica, I remember that. Right. Yes, I’m awake. And uh, what’s this code you scribbled here – PSIR? “Piece-er?” NADIA AL HANAKI: “Probably someone’s insane ramblings.” It should have been nothing! Someone said they’d seen – I mean, it can’t be anything. SAM YAO: Well, just say it. NADIA AL HANAKI: Someone said they’d seen a zombie crying. It was probably insane ramblings. I sent Yang with her just to check it out. SAM YAO: And now Yang’s dead, and Veronica’s kidnapped. Okay. And what is RTTPL? “Run to the place… Lassie?” Do you call her Lassie, like the dog? Why would you do that? NADIA AL HANAKI: “Remember to take packed lunch.” She’s only fifteen, and a genius! She forgets. SAM YAO: Right. Okay. We’ve got her tracker signal. NADIA AL HANAKI: It comes and goes, but yeah. Whoever’s got her, you’re steadily gaining on them. Five, keep going. SAM YAO: Any word from Paula? NADIA AL HANAKI: Nothing. She could have turned. SAM YAO: She hasn’t, alright? This just happens. It just happens sometimes. NADIA AL HANAKI: It hasn’t happened on a mission before! SAM YAO: So, yeah, well, that’s a thing we should be aware of in future, yeah? Okay? Five, you should be seeing the place she disappeared, right? PAULA COHEN: coughs Runner Five. SAM YAO: Paula! Paula, are you okay? PAULA COHEN: Five, you’ve got to get out of here. coughs SAM YAO: It’s okay, Paula. You just need another, well, you know, jolly old treatment! You’ll be right as rain, neat as a pin, bright as a… sausage. PAULA COHEN: It’s happening more often, Sam. I can’t keep going out on missions. I’m useless. SAM YAO: No, it’s probably the flu. You know, that flu everyone’s had, pulling you down. NADIA AL HANAKI: Everyone knows the plasmapheresis isn’t working so well for Paula anymore, Sam. Shorter and shorter intervals between treatments. SAM YAO: Paula, did you see who took Veronica, and where they went? PAULA COHEN: Nothing. I passed out. They were trying to help me when it happened. I made them sloppy. I can do one thing at least. I can lead that pack away from you. SAM YAO: Pack? PAULA COHEN: They’ll chase me because I’m moving, but they won’t bite. I don’t smell human to them when I’ve had an attack. SAM YAO: Nadia, you never said there was a pack. NADIA AL HANAKI: I didn’t see it. SAM YAO: Oh, what? Yeah, the enormous pile of corpses with the crowd of what, fifty? Do you make that fifty zombies, Nadia? NADIA AL HANAKI: Maybe seventy-five? They were concealed from my cams by the hoardings. SAM YAO: Seventy-five zombies attracted by the smell of those corpses. That escaped your attention? Didn’t put that in the mission briefing notes. NADIA AL HANAKI: I was focused on Veronica! I’m messed up. I’ve really messed up! SAM YAO: Five, they’ve – yeah, amazing. They’ve noticed you. Paula, try to distract them, and get back here at the double. But Five, you’ve got to get out of there now. Run! SAM YAO: Okay, they’re chasing Paula for now. Most of them, anyway. You won’t be alone for long, Five. Janine’s arranging backup now. Current theory is that Veronica got taken by someone with a grudge. I mean, I know Veronica can be a bit brusque, but kidnapping? I know you saw what I saw on cams back there, Five. I didn’t want to say anything to Nadia in case she’d missed it, but that pile of corpses was just girls, wasn’t it? Just teenage girls. And not zombie-bitten, either. All of the bodies intact. We haven’t had to deal with anything like this before, but I suppose they don’t just go away when there’s an apocalypse. Maybe they even thrive. Serial killer, man! I know we’re both thinking it. Okay, still got Veronica’s tracker signal. Whoever’s got her is heading west-southwest, so there’s nowhere really for them to – oh, man. Oh no. I know where they’re heading. Battenbury new town. You know that place. They call it the Forbidden City. JANINE DE LUCA: Show me precisely. SAM YAO: Here, see? They’ve been sticking to this road for miles. That’s the only place they can be heading for. JANINE DE LUCA: I see. And you haven’t managed to communicate with Miss McShell? SAM YAO: I’ve been pinging her regularly. No response. I’m thinking whoever’s got her took her headset, but didn’t spot the tracker in her jacket. JANINE DE LUCA: Protocol in case of an incursion into Battenbury is to inform the Ministry immediately. I’ll have it seen to. SAM YAO: If Veronica’s been taking there, won’t it kill her? JANINE DE LUCA: Possibly. I’ve never learned much about what happened in Battenbury. I believe there was an early outbreak there, and since it is modeled after medieval walled cities, it was thought there might be a chance of containment if they - SAM YAO: They used some weird weapon, didn’t they, Janine? One of those things you’re not supposed to know about, but you do, don’t you? Is this one of those things, like the secret lab under Abel? Where you say you don’t know, but you do know really, but you’re not allowed to tell me, but you’re also not allowed to tell me that you know? JANINE DE LUCA: No. SAM YAO: Exactly! JANINE DE LUCA: Fine. It was a form of napalm combined with a couple of biological agents I’m not familiar with. Supposed to “scour the earth clean”. SAM YAO: Is it safe? JANINE DE LUCA: The official advice is not encouraging. Hmm. Five, the building with the orange sign ahead of you - there’s a military supply store in the basement. You should be able to pick up a rebreather there. SAM YAO: Because it’s not safe, right? JANINE DE LUCA: Battenbury is filled with zombies, and the earth is poisoned, and the air is toxic. door Someone fetch Doctor Myers. I want her advice. SAM YAO: But if Veronica’s been taken there, won’t she also be poisoned? JANINE DE LUCA: Yes. The longer she breaths that air, the less chance she’ll survive. Hurry, Five! JANINE DE LUCA: Well done, Runner Five. You’re clear of the building, and you’ve shaken off those zoms. And good thinking, to bring a couple of spare rebreathers. If you find Veronica, you might buy her some time with one of those. When. When you find her. SAM YAO: Operational support still not your strong suit, Janine. JANINE DE LUCA: We’ve had word from the Ministry. They happen to have a very experienced operative locally. A demolitions expert. You’ll rendezvous with them shortly. I’m not in general in favor if his type, but we’ll need him. Doctor Cohen has reported that at a cursory inspection, all the girls in that corpse pile were asphyxiated. I think we all know who’s behind this. SAM YAO: We do? JANINE DE LUCA: Someone deliberately killing multiple people in the same fashion? Both you and I know who did this, Mister Yao. SAM YAO: Still no. JANINE DE LUCA: We’ve only encountered one serial killer since the apocalypse. How likely is it that another has come to stay near Abel Township, other than my brother, Tom? SAM YAO: Oh. Wow. I see what you mean, Janine, but no! Tom was specifically after you, and people who were on that super secret spy mission with you. This would be a different uh, modus operandi for him. JANINE DE LUCA: He’s insane! I abandoned him on a mission, and it has driven him mad. I failed to kill him on our last encounter. I failed to find him subsequently. This is my responsibility. Do not try to relieve me of it, Mister Yao! SAM YAO: You can’t know it’s him, Janine! JANINE DE LUCA: I understand that you are by nature relentlessly supportive and optimistic, Mister Yao, but it does no good to deny the plain truth! Runner Five, please hurry. I do not want another life on my hands. JANINE DE LUCA: Your contact is due to rendezvous with you shortly, Five, just outside the north gate of Battenbury. SAM YAO: Every time you say that name, it makes me want a piece of cake. Do you remember those cakes? Battenberg. Pink and yellow squares, marzipan outside? Bit of a weird association for a napalmed wasteland, really. JANINE DE LUCA: It was supposed to be a model city. Sustainable living for the future. SAM YAO: Yeah. There it is now, on the horizon. Looks like someone set fire to Cinderella’s castle, and then knocked it about a bit with a lump hammer, and then poisoned it, and filled it with zombies. opens MAXINE MYERS: Hey, Sam. Nadia said you needed me? SAM YAO: You alright, Max? Want to put your feet up? Here, have my chair. MAXINE MYERS: laughs I’m just pregnant, Sam. It’s not an illness. SAM YAO: Have you spoken to Paula? How’s she doing? MAXINE MYERS: Uh, it’s getting a little worse every day. Van Ark’s cobbled-together treatments just don’t hold. Well um, we can talk about it later. Let’s just say this would be a really good time for us to find a solid lead on this cure. Fill me in on Battenbury precisely, Janine. I was thinking of pharmaceuticals to administer after exposure. STEVE SISSAY: Alright. You must be Runner Five. I’ve heard of you. Course I have. You won’t have heard of me. I’m Steve Sissay, but everyone calls me the Builder. It’s one of those joke names because I’m demolitions. It’s never made much sense to me, but now I’m stuck with it. Ministry sent me here to help you get your girl out. The Minister’s a bit taken with Veronica McShell, I reckon. But I need you to do everything I say. Can you do that, mate? I don’t need to give you an incentive, do I? gun Please don’t make me do something we’d both regret. It’s an honor to meet you, Runner Five. Let’s get moving. I think we’ve picked up a couple of zoms. SAM YAO: They can’t just threaten one of my runners, Janine. That’s not okay! And if the Minister doesn’t like it, you can get her on the radio right now and I’ll tell her myself. STEVE SISSAY: Is it Sam? Listen, mate, that was just protocol. You don’t need to worry about that. You’ve got an important job to do for me right now. I’m putting a lot of trust in you, and I’m happy to. I’ve heard how good you are. We sort this, and maybe you can help me run some training. We need more operators like you. SAM YAO: Yeah? Yeah, well, the first thing I’d train you in is that runners don’t pull guns on each other, okay? Apart from Runner Eight, but she never meant it really. JANINE DE LUCA: She did sometimes. STEVE SISSAY: Don’t do this, mate? Okay? I have my orders. Battenbury’s dangerous. It’s not just zombies. Some areas are still infectious. There are live bioweapons in there. If I suspect your people have been infected, I can’t let them out, and I need to you to know, Runner Five, that I will pull the trigger if I have to. You have to know I’m serious. I need you with me on this, Sam. SAM YAO: Uh. Well, I suppose that’s - MAXINE MYERS: Hey there. Steve, is it? Doctor Myers here. STEVE SISSAY: Doctor Myers of the Myers Spray? You’re about seven and a half months gone, right? With respect, ma'am, should you be on active duty? MAXINE MYERS: Yeah, I think I’m the one best placed to decide that, Steve, for at least two reasons. Yeah, I’m fine, but we don’t have much time. I can see the zoms filling the upper walkways from here. How are you planning to locate Veronica? Our trackers can’t pinpoint her accurately enough. STEVE SISSAY: We’ve got a paid volunteer to help with that. See that chopper circling the town? She’s not going to land or put herself in - static AMELIA SPENS: Hello, can you hear me? Are you getting this, Steve? STEVE SISSAY: Loud and clear, mate. What have you got? AMELIA SPENS: Place is full of zombies. STEVE SISSAY: Copy that. Any new information? SAM YAO: Janine, they’re working with Amelia? Did you know the Ministry was working with Amelia? JANINE DE LUCA: She gets good intel. If it helped us bring Tom down, I’d take assistance from Lucifer. AMELIA SPENS: I’ve got this infrared cam working, Steve. Only one warm body in the whole place. The southeast quadrant, the round building with the clock tower, to the northeast corner of the building, fairly near the north window. STEVE SISSAY: Moving? AMELIA SPENS: Yes, and fighting with something. Struggling. SAM YAO: It’s going to be okay. Runner Five and this not at all shady gentleman will get her out. And you know, even if it is a serial killer – and we don’t know that’s Tom, Janine! - but even if it is a serial killer, they like to take their time, don’t they? We’re going to get her out. She’s still alive, she’s still got a chance. JANINE DE LUCA: It’s not a serial killer. It’s not Tom. SAM YAO: Yeah! Definitely not Tom. I mean, why would it be? And yeah, it’s probably not even a serial killer. This person killed Yang, sure, but that’s no reason to suspect they like killing people - JANINE DE LUCA: No, didn’t you hear what Miss Spens said? Only one warm body in Battenbury. Even if Veronica were already dead, she’d still be warm. Whatever took her, it’s not alive anymore. She’s been taken by a zombie! Category:Mission Category:Season Four